TEDxTIS Youth

Speakers

Speakers may not be confirmed. Check the event website for the latest lineup.

• Arjun Raina

  Student

  A grade 10 student originally from India, Arjun has been creating art since he was very young. As he’s grown older, he’s noticed that school and homework take up so much of his time that he's let his pencils and paints take the backseat. He’s noticed that the lives of adults and students are similar in the way that we let creative expression get shoved under the rug as soon as work becomes a priority. Arjun believes that self-expression through art, whether through visual art, music, theatre, or other means, is important to live an enriching, fulfilling life. Through his first TEDxTIS Youth talk, he explores the benefits of having creative endeavors, or “projects,” outside of work, and how engaging creatively impacts your brain.

• Damirbek Kholnazarov

  Student

  Damirbek is a grade 10 scholarship student from Tashkent, Uzbekistan, who is deeply curious about how people think, create, and make meaning of the world around them. His core rule in life is to try everything, which is reflected in his wide range of interests, from playing football to programming websites. Beyond the stage, Damirbek is an organizer of TEDxALWIUT, where he works closely with speakers and teams to help shape ideas worth sharing, and he has previously spoken at two TEDx events in Tashkent. Through these experiences, he has come to value the true power of TEDx talks when they are delivered deliberately. In this TEDxTIS Youth talk, he explores whether dreams are merely a natural process of the mind or subtle reflections of what lies ahead.

• Galina Andi Aranitasi

  Student

  Galina, a grade 11 IB DP1 student, has grown up in 7 countries across 3 continents (Albania, Bulgaria, Cuba, North Macedonia, Türkiye, and the UK), studying in 5 different international schools. From a young age, sports have had a crucial role in her life—she has played tennis, volleyball, basketball, and currently plays semi-professional football, while also watching football - both kinds, tennis, basketball, and Formula 1. As a passionate player and fan, Galina has experienced first-hand the importance of the sports community on individuals, friendships, and societies. Through her second TEDxTIS Youth talk, Galina hopes to challenge stereotypes about how sports fans are perceived and raise awareness about the vital—and usually net positive—role sports play in fans’ lives.

• Haktan Timur Durmus

  Student

  For Timur, a 17-year-old IB DP 11th grader, life has been a constant rotation of cultures and countries. Amidst such fluidity in his life, his passion for music has been the only thing that has remained static. His connection to it evolved from dancing to playing instruments and eventually producing his own music. In his first TEDxTIS Youth talk, Timur discusses why people feel pressured to live perfect lives. He uses the technical concepts of Lo-Fi music to show that imperfections aren’t mistakes, instead being the parts of our lives that make us relatable. By sharing his experiences with music production, Timur explains why we should stop editing our lives and instead accept the unpolished parts of our identities.

• Khabibabonu Karimova

  Student

  Khabiba, a 10th-grade Uzbek student, was born in Germany and lived in Vietnam, Finland, Turkey and Uzbekistan. Living in different countries has shaped her into an energetic, talkative person with a global perspective. She became an eco-activist and created Ecoeducation, whose aim is to raise awareness among young students and motivate them to take action for different issues. While being passionate about global problems, she is also an avid athlete who has now committed to volleyball, training for the national team tryouts. In her first TEDxTIS Youth talk, she talks about refusing to choose between sports and science, thus challenging cultural expectations of girls. She will also explain how combining her passions for sports and environmental leadership has helped her make a real impact and show that you don’t have to choose just one.

• Nigora Ashrapova

  Student

  Born and raised in Tajikistan, Nigora is a Grade 12 IB DP student who hopes to lead a meaningful life and find purpose beyond herself. She strives to understand herself and the world around her and is particularly drawn to psychology, philosophy, and evolution. One of Nigora’s strongest passions is public speaking: she was a speaker at the 2023 TEDxYouth@TashkentIntlSchool, then started her own Public Speaking Club, and co-organized TEDxYouth@TashkentIntlSchool 2024. In this year’s TEDxTIS Youth talk, Nigora questions “What makes us human?” to provoke reflection about humanity’s place in the world.

• Seohee Jin

  Student

  Seohee is a 16-year-old student and a massive overthinker. It is not uncommon for her to die in the Google Dinosaur game because she can’t decide whether to leap over the Pterodactyle or to crouch. Recently she’s been overthinking on living a meaningful life. How do you live a life so you don’t regret it in the future? Through her TEDxTIS Youth talk, Seohee would like to share what she believes living a meaningful life means- with not much expertise other than lots of experience on overthinking on this topic.

• Yasmina Kuchkorova

  Student

  Yasmina is a grade 11 IB DP scholarship student from Uzbekistan. She is deeply enthusiastic about mathematics and music. The world of numbers and patterns opened up before her when she was a little child counting the number of leaves on a tree. Even though music is often seen as the opposite of math, it became part of her life seven years ago when she played her first note on the piano. Her long, yet engaging, process of exploring both fields led to her discovery of a close bond, more like a bridge, between the two worlds she adores. In her first TEDxTIS Youth talk, she wants to share how curiosity can lead to extraordinary findings, the ones that might sound a bit contradictory for most of us.

• Yuna Kang

  Student

  Black hair. Korean. Then, you find out she is in Grade 10. These are the first things you’ll notice about Yuna within minutes of meeting her. However, there is so much more about her behind the surface. She spent her sixteen years in several places: Korea, Vietnam, Tanzania, and Uzbekistan - and these experiences have pushed her to be a risk taker and an adventurer. Yuna likes contemplating life, our existence, and morality. Thinking about how law and ethics interweave together in this chaotic society excites her, and that is why she has decided to break down the Trolley Dilemma from a ‘lawyer’s perspective’ in her first TEDxTIS Youth talk: to pull the lever or not to pull the lever? Let’s see: what is the smarter choice when we start considering law and ethics together?

• Zilola Numonova

  Student

  Zilola is a grade 10 TIS scholarship student who was born and raised in Uzbekistan. She strongly believes that the core of any TEDx talk is offering a new perspective to view the world. After months of reflecting on the small things we overlook, she realized that as we get older, we slowly lose one of our most powerful tools: curiosity. We stop asking questions, not just of others, but of the world around us. In her first TEDxTIS Youth talk, Zilola will explore how rediscovering simple and everyday questions can help us reconnect with who we are. Her goal is to inspire the audience to rediscover their curiosity and begin questioning the world again.